Bench made of corrugated board



July 2l, 1959 's. sPlvAcK BENCH MADE OF' CORRUGATED BOARD 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 18, 1958 INVENTOR. S 74A/4 E y SP/wac/r 7 TTOFA/E Y July 2l, 1959 s. sPlvAcK BENCH MADE OF CORRUGATED BOARD 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 18, 1958 INVENTOR .S1-@AMEV SP/wzd/r BY? ATTORNEY BENCH MADE OF OOOOOOOOOOOOO RD NNNNNN OR United States Pate BENCH MAL'DE 0F CORRUGATED BOARD Stanley Spivack, Bayside, N.Y.

Application 'April `18, 1958, Serial No. 729,322

1 Claim. (Cl. 155-4169) This invention relates to apparatus for supporting a seated person and, in particular, relates to a demountable and compactly packaged bench made up of corrugated board parts, which parts may be easily assembled at the time the bench is to be fused.

For certain religious denominations, it is customary after the death of a person for members of the family of the deceased to observe a period of mourning. During such period, the family of the deceased are required by religious custom to sit on bench-like structures. Heretofore, the funeral parlor establishment would furnish heavy wooden benches to the homes of persons observing this form of religious ritual.

Wooden benches present many undesirable problems to the funeral director and, moreover, are often an inconvenience to the persons in whose home the benches are being Iused during the period of mourning. The benches must be furnished promptly upon the death of a person. Generally, the funeral director will not have time to order new benches or borrow benches if he is short in supply which necessitates stocking a large quantity of such benches. Consequently, the funeral director has to set aside, usually at his place of business, a large storeroom for benches so that he will have on hand at all times a vsufficient number of benches to accommodate the unforseen demand for same. Moreover, the funeral director must enlarge his staff of personnel and engage pickup trucks for the purpose of carting benches from the place of storage to the homes where they are to be used. Such personnel and trucks are again used to return the benches to storage after the period of mourning. The benches are additionally burdensome because they must be continually painted and otherwise maintained in good repair. This service is becoming increasingly burdensome to the funeral director and costly to persons requiring the benches because a rental is charged for the use of the benches. The benches are also an inconvenience when they are in a persons home during the period of mourning. The benches generally take up space in ones home normally used for other purposes and are not easily moved into an out-of-place area when not actually sat upon. In addition, there is an inconvenience to the people renting the benches when the items are delivered and removed from the place of use.

It is, therefore, the principal object ofthe instant invention to provide a novel, light-in-weight and expendable bench made of corrugated board parts consisting essentially of two hollow nested tubes and a cover, which tubes and cover may be compactly packaged to eliminate the need of large area storage prior to assembly ofthe bench and which bench provides the additional advantage in that a plurality of assembled benches may be easily stacked. Benches made in accordance with the invention provide the additional advantage in that they may be shipped singularly or in large quantities with little diliculty by reason of the fact that the individual parts of the bench may be folded into a light, compact, transportable package.

'2,895,541 Patented July 21, 1959 It is a further object of the instant invention to provide a corrugated board bench made of two nested tubes and a cover, which bench may be easily assembled by a person desiring to use same with a minimum of labor and within a relatively short space of time.

It is a further object of the instant invention to provide a relatively inexpensive corrugated board bench made up of nested tubes and a cover characterized in particular by economy of manufacture such that the bench is expendable after use.

It is a further object of the instant invention to provide a corrugated board bench suilciently strong to serve as a seat over an appreciable period of time.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description of the invention taken in conjunction with the gures, in which:

Fig. l is an exploded View in perspective of two tubes in folded condition, which tubes in combination with an associated cover make up a bench in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is an exploded view in perspective of the tubes and cover in unfolded condition and also illustrates the relationship of the parts constituting the bench, each with respect to the other prior to assembly of the bench. The bench parts illustrated herein are partly cut away to illust-rate the direction of the flutes of the corrugated board;

Fig. 3 is a plan View of a blank or sheet of corrugated board from which the aforesaid cover is made;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are perspective views showing the successive steps of folding the blank of Fig. 3 for the purpose of forming the cover;

Figs. 7 and 8 are plan views of blanks or sheets of corrugated board from which the tubes are made;

Fig. 9 is a side elevation depicting a section of the assembled bench; for the purpose of clarity, the utes of the corrugated board parts constituting the bench are not shown in this figure and in the figures to follow:

Fig. 10 is an elevation taken along line 10-10 of Fig. 9; and

Fig. l1 is an elevation corresponding to Fig. 9 depicting a modification wherein the bench incorporates a tray.

Reference is now made to Figs. l and 2, which gures show the component parts of a bench 15 made in accordance with the invention. Fig. l shows inner and outer tubes 16, 17 in folded or compressed condition. Each tube 16, 17 has four side panels 16a through 16d, and 17a through 17d and opposed open ends. The individual tubes are formed from scored sheets or blanks 18, 19 of corrugated board shown in plan in Figs. 7 and 8 prior to folding of same by the manufacturer. Sheet 18 is folded along its three scored creases and joined at edges X, X by means of tape 20 to form tube 16, whereas sheet 19 is folded along its three creases and joined at edges Y, Y by tape 21.

One advantage of the invention is that in packaging bench 15, the corrugated tubes 16, 17 may be compactly compressed or folded, a's shown in Fig. 1, and placed one on top of another to provide a thin, compact package of manageable size for storage and shipment. Upon delivery of bench 15 to the place of use, the individual tubes 16, 17 are opened or unfolded to form four-sided parallelepipedes as shown in Fig. 2.

In order to assemble bench 15, tube 17 is set upright on a floor as shown in Fig. 2 wherein the four panels thereof 17a-d will stand in vertical planes. Tube 16 is oriented so that its panels 16a and 16C are disposed in vertical planes wherein tube 16 is then slidably nested into tube 17. To facilitate such assembly, arrows A are printed on tubes 16 and 17. Proper assemblage is assured when arrows A meet. The nested tubes 16, 17 provide an upright double slide box structure having top and bottom ends extending in spaced` horizontal planes when the structure is resting on the oor. 4The dimensions of tubes 16 and 17 are selected such that inner tube 16 telescopically nests snugly in tube 17. As seen from Figs. 9 'and 10, the vertiealdirnensions of panels 1641, ,16e` and 17a-17d are Vsubstantially, Ythe Vsame sothat ,the nested tubes are ofthe same height yand donot overlap in the plane of the top end of the assembled structure.

To provide the maximum compression or vertical strength in ,order to Vassure that Athe nested structure is sufliciently strong to support seating loads over its contemplated period of use, blank 19 is cut so thatthe corrugations or utes 22 thereof will extend vertically between the open ends of its four panels 17a-17d when tube 17 is standing upright. On the other hand, blank 18 is cut so that the utes.23 of panels 16a, 16e extend vertically between panels 16b and 16d when tube 16 is standing upright.

Since the edges at the top end of the double slide box structure are normally relatively sharp, a cover 24 is telescopically nested thereover. Cover 24 is formed from a die-cut scored blank 25 of corrugated board shown in plan in Fig. 3. Blank 25 has a center panel 26 scored at its -four edges 27 through 30 from which foldable flaps 31 through 34 extend integrally. it is desirable to cut blank 25 such that the flutes 35 Vof the assembled cover (see Fig. 2) will run parallel to the longer dimension 40 of the cover center panel 26 to provide maximum tensile strength for the cover structure so that it does not part or tear by reason of seating loads being applied to it over its period of use. p Two of the opposed cover iaps 32, 34 are scored at 36, 37 to form inner and outer foldable flap portions 32a, 32h and 34a, 34b. As illustrated in Fig. 3, the opposed edges of foldable flap portions 32, 34 from their respective outer right-hand and left-hand ends are cut, which die cuts extend inwardly to respective scores 28, 30 to permit folding of flap sections B and C as shown in Fig. 4. The opposed edges of outer ap portions 32b and 34b are tapered outwardly so that the dimension D is slightly longer than the dimension d to obtain rm locking of cover 24 as will be seen hereinafter. The other two end flaps 31, 33 are scored at 38 and 39 to form inner and outer foldable ap portions 31a, b and 33a, b. In addition, foldable flaps 31, 33 are also scored at 41 through 44 such thateach inner ap portion 31a and 33a has a short foldable flap section B and a longer foldable flap section C. The scores shown in Fig. 3 extending through flap sections C are formed when the scores 36, 37 are being applied to their respective flaps, but it should be understood that these scores through sections C serve no principal purpose in the practice of the invention. The opposed edges of outer ap portions 31b, 33b are tapered outwardly so that dimension D is slightly longer than dimension d to obtain firm 'locking when cover 24 is assembled.

Assembly of cover 24 is accomplished as follows: Flaps 31, 33 are folded along scores 27, 29 to dispose such flaps upright, as shown in Fig. 4. Respective pairs of the four end sections B, C arev turned in towards each other by folding same along scores 41, 42, 43 and 44, respectively, also shown in Fig. 4 until these end sections extend in planes coinciding substantially with scores 28, 30. Initial locking is accomplished next by folding opposed aps 32, 34 upright along scores 23, 30 and then folding outer flap portions thereof 32b, 34b along scores 36, 37 until said ap portions 32b, 34h fold around respective ones of the four end sections B and C as shown in Fig. 5. The opposed tapered edges of flap portions 32b, 34b firmly lock the aforesaid folded assemblage. Cover 24 is completed by folding over flap portions 311;, 33h along scores 38, 39 as shown in Fig. 6. Firm locking is provided by the opposed tapered edges of flap portions Sib, 33h becoming wedgedl between the surfaces of ap portions 32b, 346 as shown in Fig. V6. Cover 24- is now fitted over the telescopic sliding tube structure 4 wherein bench 15 is ready for use as depicted in Figs. 9 and 10.

As referred to hereinbefore, the component parts of bench 15 are packaged for shipment and storage in demountable condition. For this purpose, blank 25 may be folded along scores 38, 39 such that outer ap portions 3111, 33h against inner flap portions 31a, 32a, respectively, after which flaps 32,34 and end sections B, C on the sides thereof are folded, respectively, along scores 28, 30 over the folded flaps 31, 33. The cover so folded may be tied or otherwise bound and then placed on top of the compressed tubes 16, 17 (as shown in Fig. l) to complete the lightweight, transportable, compact package.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that a person can, with ease, assemble bench 15. Directions for assembling the bench may be printed by the manufacturer on the center panel of cover 24.

Although not shown herein, it is within the purview of the invention to make the component parts of the bench of multi-wall corrugated board, that is to say, corrugated yboard having two or more layers of flutes.

The foregoing embodiment may be modified so that tube 17 is designed to ft snugly into tube 16. However, it should be understood that the illustrated embodiment is preferred.

A further modification contemplates the use of a tray 45 also made of corrugated board. In order to accommodate tray 45, panels 16a, 16e in vertical height are made shorter than the vertical height of panels 17a through 17d. The difference in these heights will accommodate the height of tray 45 shown as an assembled component of the bench in Fig. 1l. The tray 45 may be similar to cover 24 in whichcase it will be made from a blank 25 of corrugated board of suitable dimensions. However, to minimize costs of the bench, it is preferable to employ a standard corrugated board tray. Tray 45 will fbe inverted with respect to cover 24 such that center panel 46 of the tray rests upon panel 16d of the assembled bench as depicted in Fig. 1l. Tray 45 may be used to store prayer books or other articles placed therein, which articles are accessible merely by lifting up cover 24.

Tray dimensions are selected such that in vertical height, tray 45 will not extend or otherwise overlap above the top edge of tube 17 of the nested tubes, also clearly depicted in Fig. l1. Moreover, it is desirable when forming tray 45 to cut the blank from which it is made so that the flutes extend vertically in the opposed folded flaps of longer dimension of the tray, for example, the flaps shown in cross-section in Fig. ll. This arrangement will contribute to the vertical or compressible strength of the assembled bench incorporating the tray.

After assembly of bench 15, a plurality of such benches may be easily stacked by a person when the benches are not actually in use. Since the corrugated board bench is relatively inexpensive, it may be discarded after it serves its purpose. The corrugated Iboard Ibench provides the additional advantage in that it may be easily and inexpensively decorated during manufacture to conform to the needs to which it is to be used.

Since many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made Without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

Apparatus for supporting a seated person comprising, outer and inner hollow tubes, each having four side panels and opposed open ends, said tubes being made of corrugated board, the inner tube being slidably nested within the outer tube to form an upright structure having top and bottom ends in spaced horizontal planes, the outer Yone of said tubes having its four panels disposed in vertical planes and having the flutes of the panels 'extending vertically and lengthwise between the open ends thereof,

a cover adapted to tit over the top end of the nested |upright structure upon which a person may be seated, said cover being made of corrugated board, said inner tube being disposed with two of its panels extending in vertical 5 planes and tWo of its other panels extending in horizontal planes, the vertical height of said inner tube being less than the vertical height of said outer tube, and a tray resting on the upper one of said horizontal panels of said inner tube, said tray extending vertically to the top end 10 of the upright structure.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Lewis May 14, 1901 Ferres Mar. 11, 1902 Mitchell Apr. 15, 1913 Weiss Dec. 15, 1914 Thoke Nov. 21, 1933 Williamson Apr. 6, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Aug. 29, 1956 

